Journal of women's health
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Journal of women's health · Jan 2021
"Phantom Kicks": Women's Subjective Experience of Fetal Kicks After the Postpartum Period.
Background: During pregnancy, a woman will attribute increased abdominal sensations to fetal movement. Surprisingly, many women report that they feel kick sensations long after the pregnancy; however, this experience has never been reported in the scientific literature. Materials and Methods: We used a qualitative approach to survey n = 197 women who had previously been pregnant. ⋯ Women described the phantom sensations as "convincing," "real kicks," or "flutters." Twenty-seven percent of women described the experience as nostalgic or comforting, and 25.7% reported felt confused or upset by the experience. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that phantom kicks in the postpartum period are a widely experienced sensation, which may have implications for a woman's postpartum mental health. The mechanism behind the phantom kick phenomenon is unknown, but may be related to changes in the somatosensory homunculus or proprioception during pregnancy.
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Journal of women's health · Jan 2021
Summary of Current Guidelines for Cervical Cancer Screening and Management of Abnormal Test Results: 2016-2020.
Cervical cancer can be prevented through routine screening and follow-up of abnormal results. Several guidelines have been published in the last 4 years from various medical societies and organizations. These guidelines aim to personalize screening and management, reducing unnecessary testing in low-risk patients and managing high-risk patients with more intensive follow-up. ⋯ For management, HPV testing is preferred to cytology because it is a more sensitive test for cancer precursor detection and also allows for precise risk stratification. Current risk-based screening and management strategies can improve care by reducing unnecessary tests and procedures in low-risk patients and focusing resources on high-risk patients. Knowledge of screening and management guidelines is important to improve adherence and avoid both over- and under-use of screening and colposcopy.
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Journal of women's health · Jan 2021
Prescription Opioids and Patient Sex: A National Cross-Sectional Study.
Background: Surveillance data suggest that women are prescribed more opioid analgesics than men. It remains unclear whether these sex-related differences solely reflect the associations with other characteristics more prevalent among women (e.g., adverse socioeconomic and health status-related factors, and more contact with the health system). Materials and Methods: We examined the factors associated with opioid prescriptions and sex in a large, nationally representative U. ⋯ Conclusions: In this nationally representative sample, women received higher rates of prescription opioids, consistent with prior surveillance data. However, this relationship was attenuated with adjustment for sociodemographic and health status-related factors, and nonsignificant with adjustment for higher rates of nonnarcotic prescriptions among women. Higher opioid prescription rates in women may simply be reflective of these other factors, and the overall greater use of health care among women.